Studying, Living, Working, Volunteering Abroad, ExpatsCurrently or planning on studying abroad, living abroad, working abroad, and volunteering abroad.
Expats talk for all of you Huck Finn's out there. You rebels with a without a cause. Summer travel is child's play to you.

well im the one who keeps having struggles with life...was an au pair in italy..that went to shit after a week...spent another week backpacking through rome, florence and venice meeting people and looking for work....ran out of money and now i just arrived in geneva switzerland to stay with some family friends until i figure something out quick....i have a chance to go to london friday and since the pound is so strong right now compared to the dollar...i think im going to stay in london and work... from some fellow backpackers i heard that you can work in bars in london and they give you a place to stay and some food to live on...is this true?? can anyone hook me up with any sort of work or any ideas ASAP! ive been a bartender before...and i can work anything like a coffee place or whatever will keep me alive and will give me a chance to save a little while living there...im so clueless and i have no return ticket to minneapolis so im basically screwed if this doesnt work!!!...heeellppppppppp meeeeeee

Wow. Well, I don't have any specific help for you, but a good start would be to see if you can work at a hostel, that way at least your bed would be taken care of, and they may pay a bit over that too. And they might have a line on where you can get a job bartending or waitressing. Good luck!!

1- I really dont think your parents will just let you rot and die in europe, you sound really desperate, why not just phone them? Mine have an understanding with me that if at any time I feel I am in over my head, they'll fly me home, no questions asked, no lectures, nothing. Most parents are kind like that, I would think....

2- I'm working in london this winter/spring, but I understand that its kind of difficult and skechy getting work without a visa. That said, there are tons of holiday jobs in the city, and yes you can get room and board with some of the pub jobs. I'd probably go Sv's way, first try to find work in a hostel, because then at least you have housing and maybe sort of food.

Good luck, I hope everything works out alright for you.

__________________
"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did."
-T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom

i dont know what your job specifics are but try here...you may have some luck because you may get some temp work being that its christmas...be warned london is very VERY expensive do you have any funds at all? It may be very hard to find a job where they put you up...do you have any bar experience?

i would say there is alot of work over christmass, not sure about without a visa i would move further north than london as its very expencive, small pubs and resturaunts need people at this time of year some will have no problem with cash in hand, i know people that do this kind of work and have no problems but to get full time work is hard. as they will not pay you much cash in hand so you may have to do a few hours at 2 different places.